CPS software glitch leaves high school referees unpaid, prompts game cancellations
Chicago Public Schools cancels games after referees go on strike
Referees for high school games could return to the field after they walked out over not being paid.
CHICAGO - Chicago Public Schools says a software glitch caused dozens of high school sports officials to miss paychecks, prompting some referees to refuse to work until the issue was addressed.
CPS referee payment issue
The backstory:
High school referees said they had not been paid for work during the fourth week of the fall sports season. Officials who worked multiple sports — including football, girls flag football, volleyball and soccer — said they were owed between $1,500 and $2,000 for games officiated on nights and weekends.
As a result, some referees declined to officiate until they were paid, leading to the cancellation of some junior varsity games.
CPS said the payment issue was caused by an error involving a third-party school software management vendor and that the district is working to correct it.
According to referees, some officials have begun receiving partial payments.
"They’ve only been paid up to two weeks, so they’re still owed a week. And then some of them are still missing games that they have not been paid for. So they’re looking to try to get this rectified and we’re hoping that they get this rectified so then I can go back, we can go back and we can now say to these guys, ‘Hey listen, in good faith they paid us for at least tow weeks. Let’s go out and let’s give these students at least a chance to compete,’" football official Breyion Hutchinson said.
What's next:
CPS said in a statement that all games scheduled this week will be played as planned.
The payment delays created concern at several schools with homecoming football games scheduled this week.
Referees said they were not on strike and are not represented by a union, but said they coordinated their response in an effort to pressure CPS to resolve the payment issues.
The Source: The information in this report came from Chicago Public Schools, statements from referees, an interview with football official Breyion Hutchinson, and previous FOX Chicago reporting.